SC Rheindorf Altach vs Southampton – Key Talking Points
By Joe Mcindoe
Southampton are set to return to action in their first pre-season match against SC Rheindorf Altach.
Saints’ road to opening day begins in Austria as they face an Austrian Bundesliga outfit. Altach may not exactly be world-class opponents, but they will surely prove a tough test for a just off the beach SFC side.
The host welcome Ralph Hasenhüttl’s men as the last opponents before their campaign commences. SCR gave previous visitors West Ham a run for their money, only narrowly losing 3-2.
With new personnel hoping to mesh, systems looking to be tinkered with, and fitness more valuable than a positive result, don’t expect the game to be a classic.
It may not be a spectacle, but pre-season is a necessary dress rehearsal for players and management to work out the bugs, just in time for that seemingly inevitable Nil Nil at Burnley on opening day.
In some respects this opening kickabout marks the first step in the implementation of the Hasenhüttl project. The Austrian may have delivered promising results last season, but without a full campaign under his belt and relegation a constant threat, it could hardly be called his team.
The Premier League table reset, the first few newly acquired personnel brought in, and with just under a month to practice and refine tactics, we can now begin to see the Hasenhüttl vision come to fruition.
Here are the key talking points for Saints’ friendly fixture with SC Rheindorf Altach: